Prefolded and sewn diaper and fabric therefor having improved wear-resistance and moisture-holding characteristics

ABSTRACT

A prefolded and sewn diaper and fabric therefor comprising at least two plies of material characterized by providing increased fabric density and a less open construction than conventional gauze diaper material for increased wear resistance in a first one of the plies and providing less fabric density and a more open construction than conventional gauze diaper material for increased moisture-holding characteristics in a second one of the plies. The diaper and fabric therefor preferably includes two spaced-apart warpwise extending strips in the first ply of material which have a greater fabric density and a less open construction for increased wear resistance than the remaining portion of the first ply and are so located as to form the outside folded edges of the prefolded and sewn diaper for combating wear therealong.

United States Patent Inventors Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee PREFOLDED AND SEWN DIAPER AND FABRIC THEREFORHAVING IMPROVED WEAR- RESISTANCE AND MOISTURE-HOLDING PrimaryExaminer-Charles F. Rosenbaum Attorney-Parrott, Bell, Seltzer, Park &Gibson ABSTRACT: A prefolded and sewn diaper and fabric thereforcomprising at least two plies of material characterized by providingincreased fabric density and a less open construction than conventionalgauze diaper material for increased wear resistance in a first one ofthe plies and providing less fabric density and a more open constructionthan conventional gauze diaper material for increased moisture-holdingcharacteristics in a second one of the plies. The diaper and fabrictherefor preferably includes two spaced-apart warpwise extending stripsin the first ply of material which have a greater fabric density and aless open construction for increased wear resistance than the remainingportion of the first ply and are so located as to form the outsidefolded edges of the prefolded and sewn diaper for combating weartherealong.

PATENTEU AUBBI I971 INVENTORs: DONALD M. ABEE- and ARTHEZ M. PeessLe-v wwLgmdw/w ATTORNEYS PREFOLDED AND SEWN DIAPER AND FABRIC THEREFOR HAVINGIMPROVED WEAR-RESISTANCE AND MOISTURE-HOLDING CHARACTERISTICS Thisinvention relates to improved prefolded and sewn diapers and the fabrictherefor which comprises two plies of material in which one of the pliesprovides increased wear resistance and the other of the plies providesincreased moisture-holding characteristics. I

In the commercial laundry or diaper service trade, prefolded diapers arenormally preferred and may be of varying constructions. Usually, theseprefolded diapers are formed of gauze diaper fabric of multi-plyconstruction and are cut transversely to the desired size and folded toform a generally rectangular diaper with a multilayer center panel andside panels thereon. These folded diapers are secured in the foldedcondition by stitching extending longitudinally of the folded diapersand overedge stitching is normally utilized along the cut edges of thefolded diaper to prevent the same from ravelmg.

While these prefolded diapers have enjoyed considerable success, certainproblems of wear resistance along the outside surface thereof andmoisture-holding qualities in the internal layers thereof have beenpresented. Heretofore, attempts have been made to overcome theseproblems by providing a diaper fabric having varying density portions ineach ply of the diaper fabric in an attempt to provide increased wearresistance in certain portions of the diaper along with increasedmoistureholding characteristics in other portions of the diaper.

However, these attempts have not been entirely satisfactory inasmuch asthe weave patterns for these diapers have been extremely complicated andthe diapers were necessarily difficult and more expensive tomanufacture. Also, these constructions did not provide the desirablewear resistance throughout the outside surface of the prefolded and sewndiapers.

Accordingly, it is the object of this invention to provide a prefoldedand sewn multi-ply diaper and the fabric therefor in which the wearresistance throughout the outside surface of the prefolded and sewndiaper and the moisture-holding characteristics of the internal layersof the prefolded and sewn diaper are greatly enhanced, while providing asimple, uncomplicated construction for the diaper fabric.

According to this invention, the above object has been accomplished byproviding a diaper fabric adapted to be cut, prefolded and sewn to formdiapers having a multilayer center panel and side panels on each sidethereof, wherein the diaper fabric comprises a multi-ply material havingcommon selvage edges at each end thereof joining the plies of materialtogether. A first one of the plies of material has a greater fabricdensity and a less open construction throughout than conventional gauzediaper material for providing increased wear resistance. A second one ofthe plies has less fabric density and a more open constructionthroughout than conventional gauze diaper material for providingincreased moistureholding characteristics. The first ply of material isadapted to form the outside layer of the prefolded and sewn diaper forcombating wear during normal use thereof and the second ply is adaptedto form inside layers of the prefolded and sewn diaper for providingmoisture-holding characteristics internally of the diaper.

The above characteristics of the two plies of material in the diaper arepreferably obtained by utilizing for the greige goods a warp end countin the first ply of material which is greater than a conventional rangeof 37-39 and desirably within the range of about 40-64, and a warp endcount in the second ply of material-which is less than a conventionalrange of 37-39 and desirably within the range of 16-36. Also,preferably, the first ply of material in the diaper fabric includes twospacedapart warpwise extending strips therein having a greater fabricdensity and a less open construction for increased wear resistance thanthe remaining portions of the first ply and desirably within the rangeof 66-90. These strips are so located as to form the outside foldededges of the prefolded and sewn diaper for combating wear therealong.

It is also preferred in the above-described diaper construction that theincreased fabric density and less open construction in the first ply andless fabric density and more open construction in the second ply beobtained while retaining a combined fabric density, weight, warp endcount and filling pick count along with yarn sizes, etc., for both plieswithin the ranges of conventional gauze diapers.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds when taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of the improved multi-ply woven gauzediaper material of this invention cut from a continuous web of suchmaterial;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the diaper material ofFIG. 1 taken substantially along the line 2-2 of,

FIG. 1',

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a prefolded and sewn diaper formed fromthe diaper material of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional of the prefolded and sewn diaperof FIG. 3 taken substantially along the line 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial perspective detail of one end of thefabric of FIG. 2 and taken substantially at the arrow 5 in FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 diapermaterial or a diaper blank 10 constructed according to this inventionand which has been cut in a desired length from a continuous web of suchmaterial along opposed cut edges 11. This diaper material I0 comprisestwo plies 12 and 13 of plain woven gauze diaper material which areinterwoven at opposed selvage edges 14.

The first ply of material 12 preferably includes two spacedapartwarpwise extending wear strips 15 and 16 therein, the construction ofwhich and the purpose of which will be described more fully hereinafter.

The diaper material 10 is folded ad secured to form the prefolded andsecured diaper 20, shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The specific type of foldutilized in the drawings to form the prefolded diaper 20 may be seenclearly in FIG. 4 and inasmuch as the fold constitutes a conventionalfold utilized in prefolded diapers, further explanation herein is deemedunnecessary.

As may be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the prefolded and secured diaper 20defines a multilayer center panel 21 and side panels 22 and 23 on eachside thereof. The prefolded diaper is secured in place by longitudinallines of stitching 24, as indicated in FIGS. 3 and 4. Normally, overedgestitching 25 is utilized along the cut edges 11 of the prefolded andsewn diaper to prevent raveling therealong. As will be noted in FIGS. 3and 4, the wear strips 15 and 16 are so located in the diaper material10 as to form the outside folded edges of the prefolded and sewn diaper20 for combating wear therealong, as will be explained more fullyhereinafter.

While the above folded and sewn diaper is exemplary of a suitable foldutilized in forming prefolded and sewn diapers, it is to be understoodthat other folds could also be utilized and this invention is notintended to be limited by the specific fold shown in the drawings.

The diaper material or unfolded diaper blank 10 of this invention isspecifically characterized by providing increased fabric density and aless open construction than conventional gauze diaper material in thefirst ply of material I2 for increased wear resistance in that ply, andproviding less fabric density and a more open construction thanconventional gauze diaper material in the second ply of material 13 forincreased moisture-holding characteristics in that ply. The abovecharacteristics are obtained while retaining a combined fabric density,weight, warp end count and filling pick count for both of the plies ofmaterial 12 and 13 within the ranges of conventional gauze diapers.

Conventional gauze diaper material is generally constructed of a plainweave construction and in the greige goods has a warp end count within arange of about 37-39, a filling pick count within a range of about 18-44and yarn numbers of about 20-40 in the warp and about 20-40 in thefilling, resulting in a fabric weight within a range of about 3.004.50yards per pound. Prefolded diapers formed from the above conventionalgauze diaper material and from the improved fabric of this inventionusually have a standard width of about 40 inches and a standard lengthof 21 inches prior to being folded and a width of about 14.50 inches anda length of about 21 inches after being prefolded and sewn.

However, the characteristics of increased fabric density and less openconstruction for the first ply 12 and the less fabric density and moreopen construction for the second ply 13 are obtained in this inventionbyvarying the warp end count in each of these two plies. Surprisingly, ithas been found that if the warp end count for the first ply of material12 is within a range of 40-64 and preferably about 48, which is abovethe conventional warp end count of 37-39 for gauze diaper material, theresulting ply 12 will have an increased fabric density and a less openconstruction throughout than conventional diaper material which willprovide increased wear resistance for that ply. Also, if the second plyof material 13 has a warp end count withing the range of 16-36 andpreferably about 26, which is below the conventional range of 37-39 forgauze diaper material, the resulting ply 13 will have less fabricdensity and a more open construction throughout than conventional gauzediaper material for providing increased moisture-holdingcharacteristics.

These increased moisture-holding characteristics are provided by havingless yarns or fibers per unit volume warp material allowing space forthe moisture to be held within the more open, less dense fabric. Thisincreased moisture holding acts much like a screen when water is sprayedthereon and drops or puddles of water are retained within theinterstices between the screen.

The wear strips 15 and 16 in the first ply 12 of material preferablyhave a warp end count within the range of 6690 and desirably about 78 sothat these wear strips will have an even greater density and less openconstruction than the remaining portions of the first ply 12 or thesecond ply 13 so as to provide even more wear resistance in these stripswhich will form the outer folded edges of the prefolded and sewn diaper20, as discussed above.

These wear strips 15 and 16 are preferably about 2 inches in width andprovide the further advantage of hiding any differential shrinkage whichmay occur between the first and second plies l2 and 13 in the prefoldedand sewn diaper 20 due to the varying densities and constructions ofeach ply and inasmuch as the density and less open construction of thesewear strips will prevent observation of the greater shrinkage whichmight occur in the less dense, more open ply 13 and provide increasedthickness at the folded edges. These varying densities and varyingopenness of construction may be clearly seen in FIG. 5.

Thus, it may be seen that by this invention a simple weave constructionfor a multi-ply diaper fabric has been utilized which will provideincreased wear resistance throughout the outside surface of a prefoldedand sewn diaper constructed from such material and will provideincreased moisture-holding characteristics for the internal layers ofthe diaper. This is clearly shown in FIG. 4 wherein the first ply ofmaterial 12 is shown as forming all of the outside surfaces of theprefolded and sewn diaper 20, whereas the second ply of material 13 isshown as forming internal layers of the diaper only.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of this invention and, although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in theclaims.

We claim: 1. A woven prefolded and sewn diaper having a multilayercenter panel and side panels on each side thereof and being formed froman unfolded diaper blank comprising two plies of material superimposedon each other and extending throughout the length and width of saiddiaper blank and having opposed selvage edges joining said pliestogether and opposed cut edges, said unfolded diaper blank beingcharacterized by providing increased fabric density and a less openconstruction than conventional gauze diaper material in a first one ofsaid plies for increased wear resistance and providing less fabricdensity and a more open construction than conventional gauze diapermaterial in the second of said plies for increased moisture-holdingcharacteristics while retaining a combined fabric density, weight, warpend count and filling pick count for both said plies within the rangesof conventional gauze diapers, said first ply of material having a warpend count throughout greater than a conventional range of 37-39 forproviding the aforesaid characteristics, said second ply of materialhaving a warp end count throughout less than a conventional range of37-39 for providing the aforesaid characteristics, and said diaper blankbeing folded in such a manner so that said first ply of material formsthe entire outside surface of said prefolded and sewn diaper forcombating wear therealong and said second ply of material forms insidelayers of said prefolded and sewn diaper for providing greatermoisture-holding characteristics internally thereof.

2. A woven prefolded and sewn diaper, as set forth in claim l, in whichsaid first ply of material has a warp end count within a range of 40-64and said second ply of material has a warp end count within a range of16-3 6.

3. A woven prefolded and sewn diaper, as set forth in claim 1, in whichsaid first ply of material includes two spaced-apart warpwise extendingstrips therein having a greater fabric density and a less openconstruction for increased wear resistance than the remaining portion ofsaid first ply, said strips being so located as to form outside foldededges of said prefolded and sewn diaper for combating wear therealong.

4. A woven prefolded and sewn diaper, as set forth in claim 3, in whichsaid first ply of material has a warp end count within a range of 40-64,said second ply of material has a warp end count within a range of16-36, and said strips in said first ply have a warp end count within arange of 6690.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent 3. 602. 224Dated Au ust 31, 1971 Inventofls) Donald M. Abee and Arther 1V1.Presslev It is certified that error appears in the above-identifiedpatent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

As the printed numbers do not correspond with actual line count, we haveused and the following line numbers refer to actual lines in the columnsof the patent.

Column 1, line 59 after "diaper" insert fabric- Column 2, line 23 after'sectional" insert -viewline 39 "ad" should be -and Column 3, line 25"withing" should be within-- line 32 after volume, delete warp" andinsert -of.

Signed and sealed this 22nd day of February 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER, JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissionerof Patents SGLjrzbjd 1553/1415 lO-5l97l )RM PO-1OSO (10-69] USCOMM-DC 075.;15 iv u s cnvznnmzm Pnmnuo DFFICE was o-sss-J:4

1. A woven prefolded and sewn diaper having a multilayer center paneland side panels on each side thereof and being formed from an unfoldeddiaper blank comprising two plies of material superimposed on each otherand extending throughout the length and width of said diaper blank andhaving opposed selvage edges joining said plies together and opposed cutedges, said unfolded diaper blank being characterized by providingincreased fabric density and a less open construction than conventionalgauze diaper material in a first one of said plies for increased wearresistance and providing less fabric density and a more openconstruction than conventional gauze diaper material in the second ofsaid plies for increased moisture-holding characteristics whileretaining a combined fabric density, weight, warp end count and fillingpick count for both said plies within the ranges of conventional gauzediapers, said first ply of material having a warp end count throughoutgreater than a conventional range of 37-39 for providing the aforesaidcharacteristics, said second ply of material having a warp end countthroughout less than a conventional range of 37-39 for providing theaforesaid characteristics, and said diaper blank being folded in such amanner so that said first ply of material forms the entire outsidesurface of said prefolded and sewn diaper for combating wear therealongand said second ply of material forms inside layers of said prefoldedand sewn diaper for providing greater moisture-holding characteristicsinternally thereof.
 2. A woven prefolded and sewn diaper, as set forthin claim 1, in which said first ply of material has a warp end countwithin a range of 40-64 and said second ply of material has a warp endcount within a range of 16-36.
 3. A woven prefolded and sewn diaper, asset forth in claim 1, in which said first ply of material includes twospaced-apart warpwise extending strips therein having a greater fabricdensity and a less open construction for increased wear resistance thanthe remaining portion of said first ply, said strips being so located asto form ouTside folded edges of said prefolded and sewn diaper forcombating wear therealong.
 4. A woven prefolded and sewn diaper, as setforth in claim 3, in which said first ply of material has a warp endcount within a range of 40-64, said second ply of material has a warpend count within a range of 16-36, and said strips in said first plyhave a warp end count within a range of 66-90.